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Podcast: Are You What They Say You Are? (Focus: France/Algeria: Zahia Rahmani's Trilogy)

31/3/2020

On this journey, I'm joined by Nour and Assia as we discuss

What is our responsibility towards our (unborn) children?
What does it mean to be called “Muslim”?
Discovering Algerian literature via the US.
How does the language we speak affect our identity?
(In) denial: France and the harkis.

Books in focus: a trilogy by Zahia Rahmani (France/Algeria):

Moze
“Musulman” roman (“Muslim” a novel)
France, récit d’une enfance (France, story of a childhood)

Find Nour on Instagram @nourstuckinabookstore.
Find Assia on Instagram/Twitter @shereadsox and her website whatassiareads.wordpress.com

Special thanks to Sabine Wespieser Editions and Deep Vellum Publishing for providing copies of these books.

To listen
- on iTunes, click here;
- on Spotify,click here.

Algerian book suggestions

L’âne mort by Chawki Amari (no English translation) - Nour, @nourstuckinabookstore
Bleu, blanc, vert by Maïssa Bey (no English translation) - Assia, @shereadsox
Portrait du colonisateur and Portrait du colonisé (Eng. title: The Colonizer and the Colonised) by Albert Memmi - Houda, @loublsmn
La grande maison by Mohammed Dib (no English translation; available in Italian: “La casa grande") - Noor, @noor_reads
La colline oubliée by Mouloud Mammeri (no English translation) - Dyhia, @dyhia_medjouti
La question (Eng. title: The Question) by Henri Alleg - Farah, @recitsdalgerie
Ce que le jour doit à la nuit (Eng. title: What the Day Owes the Night) by Yasmina Khadra - Hakim, @hakim_books

For a list of Algerian literature that has been translated into English, have a look at Nadia's (@_madcha_) list on the Arabic Literature in Translation website.

Other episodes mentioned

Au Café (Part 1 and Part 2)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Other books mentioned

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Le blanc de l’Algérie (Eng. title: Algerian White) by Assia Djebar
A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Qur’anic verse mentioned: Surat al-Kahf, 18:82.

Related resources (not endorsements)

Fille de harki: relating to the father, country and religion in the writing of Zahia Rahmani by Alison Rice in Polygraphies: Francophone Women Writing Algeria (chapter)
Archive Rare du Camp de St Ardoise (video - in French)
Building Islam as a Race in French Colonial Law by Mouhamadou Ndiaye (article)
Unrequited Loyalty: The Harkis in Postcolonial France by Michael Lejman (academic paper)
France Recognises Debt to Algerian Troops by Jon Henley (article)
Emmanuel Macron Tries - Slowly - to Reckon with France's Past by Yasmeen Serhan (article)
Veterans: The French in Algeria on Al Jazeera English (documentary - focus on European soldiers)
Algerian Harkis Appeal for Full Recognition on France 24 (news report)
On Translating Zahia Rahmani's Invisible Tongues by Lara Vernaud (article by the translator of France, récit d'une enfance)
Translating Zahia Rahmani: An Interview with Matt Reeck by Erik Noonan (article - interview with the translator of "Musulman" roman)

Categorisation of population in colonial Algeria

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Podcast: Ep. 40. In We vs. Me, which side are you on? (Focus: Somalia: Links by Nuruddin Farah)

4/3/2020

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On this journey, I’m joined by Fousia from Naptime is Sacred podcast as we explore

How a lack of stability can affect a person’s physical, mental and emotional state;
When is an insider an outsider? Or is it the other way round?
The effects of war on women.

Book in focus: Links by Nuruddin Farah (Somalia).

Find Fousia on Instagram @naptimeissacred and her website naptimeissacred.com.
To listen to her podcast, search "Naptime is Sacred" on your podcast app.

To listen

on iTunes, click here;
on Spotify, click here.

Book suggestions

The Orchard of Lost Souls by Nadifa Mohamed - Fousia of Naptime is Sacred podcast;
Links by Nuruddin Farah - Abdullahi of Unleashed Potential podcast;
Amilah by Halima Hagi - Anisa Hagi.

My other Somali fiction reads

Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed
The Story of Us by Hanna Ali

My background research resources (not endorsements)

Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State by Mary Harper (book)
Somalia: The Forgotten Story - Al Jazeera World (documentary)
Gender, State Collapse, Conflict and State Building: Recent Research from the Somali Context by Judith Gardner (podcast/lecture)
Encyclopedia Britannica: Somalia (encyclopedia entry)
TEDxHargeisa: The Transition from Oral to Written Culture by Dr Jama Musse Jama (TED talk) - in English from 3 mins.
A Post-mortem on the Postmodern? Conflict and Corporeality in Nuruddin Farah’s Links by JE Masterson (journal article)

Transcript with time markers below.

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Podcast: Are You What They Say You Are? (Focus: France/Algeria: Zahia Rahmani's Trilogy)

Podcast: Ep. 40. In We vs. Me, which side are you on? (Focus: Somalia: Links by Nuruddin Farah)

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